Siddipet starts tree cleaning initiative

Hyderabad: Siddipet municipality on Tuesday introduced the tree water cleaning mission under the Haritha Haram initiative. The municipality chairman, Kadavargu Rajanas, launched the initiative and said he wants to keep Siddipet green.

Mr Rajanas said, “We in Siddipet have launched this mission to fulfil the dreams of Telangana finance minister Harish Rao. Mr Rao told me he wants to see a clean and green Siddipet and that’s why we have launched this programme.”

Besides, some special funds have also been allocated to protect and plant new Haritha Haram trees. Haritha Haram official Samalla Illaya said, “Siddipet is following the rules and protecting trees planted under Haritha Haram. We have been imposing fines on people for even cutting off a branch.”

On, January 28, Samullapalli Balacharry was fined Rs. 15, 000 for cutting Haritha Haram trees in Bharath Nagar. Last year in December a car owner in Siddipet was fined Rs. 9,500 after he hit a tree planted under the green initiative. A man in Chilkur was also fined Rs. 500 after his goat ate the leaves of a Haritha Haram tree.

Haritha Haram is a large-scale tree plantation programme launched by the Telangana government in 2015. It aims to increase green cover in the state from 24 per cent to 33 per cent.